Disclosed herein are toners prepared by emulsion aggregation processes and exhibiting desirable charging characteristics. More specifically, disclosed herein are emulsion aggregation toners having a core-shell structure with a conductive component in the shell.
The formation and development of images on the surface of photoconductive materials by electrostatic means is well known. The basic electrophotographic imaging process, as taught by C. F. Carlson in U.S. Pat. No. 2,297,691, entails placing a uniform electrostatic charge on a photoconductive insulating layer known as a photoconductor or photoreceptor, exposing the photoreceptor to a light and shadow image to dissipate the charge on the areas of the photoreceptor exposed to the light, and developing the resulting electrostatic latent image by depositing on the image a finely divided electroscopic material known as toner. Toner typically comprises a resin and a colorant. The toner will normally be attracted to those areas of the photoreceptor which retain a charge, thereby forming a toner image corresponding to the electrostatic latent image. This developed image may then be transferred to a substrate such as paper. The transferred image may subsequently be permanently affixed to the substrate by heat, pressure, a combination of heat and pressure, or other suitable fixing means such as solvent or overcoating treatment.
Numerous processes are within the purview of those skilled in the art for the preparation of toners. Emulsion aggregation (EA) is one such method. Emulsion aggregation toners can be used in forming print and/or xerographic images. Emulsion aggregation techniques can entail the formation of an emulsion latex of the resin particles by heating the resin, using emulsion polymerization, as disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,853,943, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference. Other examples of emulsion/aggregation/coalescing processes for the preparation of toners are illustrated in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,278,020, 5,290,654, 5,302,486, 5,308,734, 5,344,738, 5,346,797, 5,348,832, 5,364,729, 5,366,841, 5,370,963, 5,403,693, 5,405,728, 5,418,108, 5,496,676, 5,501,935, 5,527,658, 5,585,215, 5,650,255, 5,650,256, 5,723,253, 5,744,520, 5,747,215, 5,763,133, 5,766,818, 5,804,349, 5,827,633, 5,840,462, 5,853,944, 5,863,698, 5,869,215, 5,902,710; 5,910,387; 5,916,725; 5,919,595; 5,925,488, 5,977,210, 5,994,020, 6,576,389, 6,617,092, 6,627,373, 6,638,677, 6,656,657, 6,656,658, 6,664,017, 6,673,505, 6,730,450, 6,743,559, 6,756,176, 6,780,500, 6,830,860, and 7,029,817, and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0107989, the disclosures of which are totally incorporated herein by reference.
Polyester EA ultra low melt (ULM) toners have been prepared utilizing amorphous and crystalline polyester resins as disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,547,499, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference.
Two exemplary emulsion aggregation toners include acrylate based toners, such as those based on styrene acrylate toner particles as illustrated in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,120,967, and polyester toner particles, as disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,916,725 and 7,785,763 and U.S. Patent Publication 2008/0107989, the disclosures of each of which are totally incorporated herein by reference.
While known compositions and processes are suitable for their intended purposes, a need remains for improved toners. In addition, a need remains for toners with improved triboelectric charging performance. Further, a need remains for toners that exhibit reduced dielectric loss. Additionally, a need remains for toners that enable improved image quality. A need also remains for toners that develop images with reduced mottle. In addition, a need remains for toners that exhibit good transfer efficiency, including transfer efficiency from an imaging member to an intermediate transfer member and from the intermediate transfer member to a final recording medium, such as paper or transparency material. Further, a need remains for toners that exhibit the aforementioned advantages while also containing relatively high concentrations of colorant. Additionally, a need remains for toners that can exhibit the aforementioned advantages while being produced at reduced cost.